Once-dead brother of mine
by Nurofen
Summary: A once in a lifetime meeting between two of the world's great powers, the Whitebeard Pirates and the Revolutionary Army. First time fic, set before Teach's betrayal. Rated T for potty mouth pirates and revolutionaries.


**DAMN YOU PLOT BUNNNIIIIIIIIIEEEEESSS~~~~  
This is set before Teach's betrayal. Because long-live Thatch and his glorious pompadour (even though he's dead...fuck.)  
Sorry for the crappy fight-scene. I have little experience with those .**

**Disclaimer: I don't own one piece. If I did, I doubt it would be anywhere near as epic as it is, and the plot would be- ohh! chocolate!**

* * *

The wind sang across the deck of the Moby Dick, the flagship of the Whitebeard Pirates, as it's occupants waited with baited breath for their guests to arrive. The tension in the air was palpable as the ship crossed the horizon. Various crew members swallowed nervously, flicked their eyes from one crewmate to another, fiddled with their weapon(s) of choice, or a combination of all three. Whichever helped them to quell their nerves as the dark, unmarked ship with the dragon figure-head approached. The only one that was not perturbed by the approaching ship was Whitebeard himself, who sat comfortably in his chair with a tankard (which was more of a barrel to any normal sized man) of quality rum in hand. All of his commanders, first through sixteenth (bar that stupid idiot that fell asleep in his lunch- again) stood alongside the towering figure of their father as the approaching ship came into focus. Close enough for the ant-like, scuttling sailors to be seen up in the rigging and on the decks, but nowhere near enough to hear the barked orders and nervous replies. At the bow of the ship, behind the figure-head stood a lone figure, an imposing man whose stance dripped with authority and power.

"Oyaji..." The normally laid back, pineapple-headed first division commander began, staring up at his captain with worried eyes.

"Marco." The man's deep voice rumbled across the deck, silencing the muttering of his sons and daughters. They all turned to face their father, knowing his words would hold great weight and meaning. "I know what I'm doing. If I wasn't sure we would all be safe through this meeting then I wouldn't have accepted the invitation, now would I?" Whitebeard consoled, putting a reassuring hand on Marco's head. He cracked a grin, curving with the crescent of his moustache. "Plus, That snot-nosed brat would have to have brought his whole army if he wanted to pick a fight with us" The tension in the air crumbled and many of the crew broke into small smiles, happy with their captain's confidence in them.

"I guess you're right, yoi" Marco huffed, looking away from his father-figure towards the rapidly approaching ship.

"Of course I am.I'm Whitebeard!" came Whitebeard's guttural reply as he leant back into his chair. "Now prepare for their arrival." The crew scattered, dashing to their assigned positions with varying cries of "Yes sir!", "Aye captain!" and "Of course, Oyaji!". The commanders grinned and began shouting last minute orders to their divisions, never leaving their father's side.

* * *

A blonde-haired young man approached the cloaked figure standing at the bow of the ship, obviously nervous at the coming encounter. "Dragon-san? Are you sure we should go through with this? I mean, this is _Whitebeard_ we're talking about! He's not known for just-" A comforting hand was placed on the young man's shoulder. The blonde sighed dramatically, his shoulders dropping and his arms hanging loosely.

"It'll be fine, boy. I'm sure he'll understand. We're not going to attack any of his sons or daughters without provocation now, _are we_." The cloaked man tightened his grip on the young man's shoulder in warning before letting go completely.

"I mean, you guys didn't have to come with me. You could have just sent me off on a row-boat towards the island they were going to stop at, and I-_ we_ wouldn't have to cause such a scene and then we wouldn't cause the gov-" A solid punch found it's way to the back of his head, followed by a stern reprimand and an equally stern gaze.

"One. Dragon-san has already said we would have had to speak with Whitebeard soon anyway. Two. _This_ isn't a scene and you know it. Three. We _want_ to cause the government a headache/heart attack etcetera, etcetera" The young lady crossed her arms, obviously well versed in teaching the young fool a lesson.

"But Koalaaa~" the blonde whined, pouting and readjusting his skewed dark-blue top hat, with his trademark chunky blue goggles wrapped around the band. Koala punched him again, sending his hat tumbling from his head. "Ah, my hat!" He lept forwards, just snatching it by the brim before it tumbled into the dark waters bellow.

"No 'ifs'. No 'buts'. This is going ahead whether you like it or not. So quit your whining, You're twenty years old already! Act it!" She placed one hand on her hip, brushing a stray lock of hair back into her neat bob.

The top-hatted man sighed, defeated. "Fine. I'm going to go make sure everything is sorted for our arrival." He stood up straight, brushing some non-existent dirt from his navy blue jacket, before storming off shouting orders as the Moby Dick neared.

"He's much more nervous than he really ought to be" Koala let out an exasperated sigh and shaking her head like a fretting mother. "He's your second in command for craps sake! He's our chief of staff! And now he's acting like a school girl with a crush!" She stomped her foot in anger, send the nearby sailors scurrying into action.

"I think you need to calm down before we arrive. They might mistake your irritation with_ him_ for hatred of the crew, and I don't think we need to go over the problems that would arise from that." Dragon smiled somewhat fondly at the fuming girl.

"Aaargh! Sometimes I think you are all just too carefree to be waging a war against the world." She grumbled, but she consented with her leader's wishes and returned to her room to 'cool off'.

* * *

As soon as the ships neared, the appropriate members of the arriving party jumped over onto the Moby Dick. The strolled over towards Whitebeard and his commanders, as the two crews lashed the ships together to stop them from drifting apart. The three members of the Revolutionary army bowed low, showing their respect to the well renowned pirate captain. Dragon stood whilst the other two stayed in their bowed position. The blonde had one hand on the brim of his hat, whilst his eyes darted side to side, identifying the commanders present. Dragon spoke, and the darting eyes stilled. "Whitebeard. It is an honour."

"Gurarararara. Likewise." Whitebeard took a long drink from his tankard. "It's not every day that the leader of the revolutionaries comes to visit my ship. Now I can't help but think this is more than just a social call." Whitebeard's eyes narrowed a hairs breadth and he brought the tankard back to his lips, scowling when he found it to be empty. All those present watched with unbridled curiosity. It wasn't everyday that the world's strongest man and most wanted criminal faced off against each other. "Now then, Brat. What _are_ you here for?" Most of those present felt a cold shiver pass down their spines at the statement. Their fingers inching towards their weapons.

Dragon let out a long suffering sigh, seemingly unaware of the tense situation. "I'm here for two reasons. First, I need access to that thing we discussed a few years back. I feel that the time to use it is fast approaching. Second, is because of my companions... Mainly him." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to his blonde haired companion.

The young man felt the gaze of every single person, pirate and revolutionary alike, fall upon him. He chose that moment to stand tall, and send a threatening glare to the revolutionaries, silently telling them to stand down and await orders. Koala rose too, crossing her arms and falling into a somewhat relaxed pose, staring curiously at Dragon's back.

Dragon signaled for Koala to step forward. She did so, her curious gaze never faltering. "This is Koala, our substitute fishman karate instructor." He then signaled to the man in the top hat. "And this is my chief of staff-"

"The Blue Gentleman" Thatch finished, slightly slack-jawed.

He was treated to a lopsided, toothy grin from said man. "Ah! So you've heard of me? It's truly an honour to be known by such renowned pirates as yourselves!"

"How could I not have? I mean-" Thatch spluttered, before realizing that none of the revolutionaries were paying attention to him. "And he isn't even listening! How can they call him a gentleman!" Both Koala and the blonde took their opportunity to look at the crowd surrounding them.

"D'ya see him?" He asked whilst on tip-toes trying to see to the back of the crowd.

"I've got nothing." Koala replied.

Marco stepped forward, crossing his arms and glaring daggers at the pair. "Looking for someone, yoi?" The pair turned quickly to face the man, equal parts of surprise, worry and curiosity on their faces.

"Well, yes. I'd like to speak with Portgas please. Is he here?" He gave a seemingly innocent smile, but the way his hat tilted, shadowing his face made him appear menacing and altogether more _dangerous_ than at first glance.

"And why should we tell you? No-one even knows your real name. Why should we just hand over our brother to you?"" Haruta called from the rails, hand on sword.

He placed his hands behind his head, the picture of calm and relaxed. "Now that would be telling, wouldn't it? So? Did the idiot fall asleep in his lunch or something?" he chuckled at his own joke, before his face twisted in thought. "Wait. That actually sounds quite likely." He looked around at the shocked faces. He chuckled again. "On the nose, huh."

"Yeah, pulled his face out of it though. Wouldn't do to let that trouble maker drown. Are you a friend of his?" Thatch smiled somewhat fondly, before remembering that he was facing a potential enemy and schooling his face into something more neutral.

The young man made no such effort to control his expression, allowing a large grin to spread across his face. "You could say that, I'm-"

"Sabo" He froze, smile still in place before turning to face the new arrival.

"Ace, I-" Before anyone could react, a solid punch connected with the man's jaw, sending him flying into the only unoccupied piece of railing."OUCH! The hell was that-" Another punch found it's mark on his jaw.

Both pirates and revolutionaries stood shock still as the second division commander rained punches down on the revolutionary. Marco stepped forward to pull his friend off their guest, but was stopped by his captain. "Oyaji..." He turned away from the two towards his father, worry evident in his features.

"Marco. There's no need to interfere. Look. The lad isn't even fighting back. There's history between those two, and I'm curious as to the outcome of this." He leaned back, his eyes never leaving the two.

"Sabo, that's ten." Koala stated, and Ace let another punch fly. He was punched in the chest by the man on the floor, tumbling head over heels into he middle of the deck.

"You bastard! That hurt! " Sabo stood, massaging his bruised jaw. "You didn't have to use fucking haki in those punches of yours..."

"You deserved it. Asshole!" Ace jumped to his feet, flames flicking over his shoulders in anger. He launched himself with a kick to Sabo's side, but it was blocked by the metal pipe that was pulled from behind his adversary. The pipe was switched and the end went to strike Ace's head, but he turned into fire at the last moment and the strike passed through harmlessly. Dropping low to the ground, Ace twisted, kicking out at Sabo's ankles. Sabo dodged byjJumping, and with a terrifying battle cry he brought the pole crashing down towards Ace's head but missed, the tip digging slightly into the deck. They continued to exchange blows, neither getting more than a glancing blow.

Jozu whistled low in appreciation. "Not bad. The kid's going at it blow for blow with Ace. That takes a brass pair."

"It's more than just that." Vista added in a low voice "You should know how unpredictable Ace is when he's fighting."

"Yeah. That's what makes it exciting. He doesn't know how to pull his punches either."

"That's what makes it so incredible! He is _predicting Ace's moves_. Those two have fought before. Many, many times." Vista crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing. "But when? Why? It's so _confusing_!"

* * *

The two combatants pulled apart, panting heavily. They glared daggers at each other from the opposite sides of the deck, before resuming their assault. "Well damn, I've never seen Sabo-san like that... That's quite the feral look he's got in his eyes there." A revolutionary up in the rigging called to his friend on deck.

"You'd think they were worst enemies, the way they're going at each other." One pirate whispered from in the crowd. They punched again, and this time their fists connected, the air crackling at the sheer force of the blow. They flew apart once more, crashing into the railings. Sabo was the first to emerge, spitting blood over the rails.

"Well, fuck, Ace. I'd have thought you were really trying to kill me with a punch like that." Sabo grinned, dusting off his jacket.

"Right back at ya, Sabo!" Ace called, kicking a broken plank of wood away and wiping a trail of blood from his forehead.

They continued, blow for blow whilst Whitebeard and Dragon spoke in hushed tones too low for anyone to hear. Not that anyone was bothering to listen in, what with the entertainment of the year being on deck before them.

Hours passed and their hearts beat faster, their breaths came harder and their blows began to loose power. But still they did not back down. They continued throwing blow after blow, until both missed their mark simultaneously. Their punches sailed over each others shoulders, and they fell to their knees, shaking with exhaustion. On a rattling breath, in a voice so quiet only the one next to him could hear. "So it really is you... Sabo." His other arm snaked beneath his adversary's arm, pulling him into a tight embrace. A single tear rolled down his cheek, finding it's way to the dark blue material beneath his chin. "We... We really thought you died. All those years ago."

Sabo pulled Ace close, whispering into his shoulder. "I'm sorry. Really. I have no excuse. I should have sent you some sort of word in all those years. I should have gone to meet you the moment I saw your bounty poster. I should have-" Ace pulled out of the embrace, placing his hands on Sabo's shoulders and staring him straight in the eye.

"You had your reasons at the time, I'm sure. Even if it was the fact you were too cowardly to come back home where we could rip you a new one for leaving. Where have yo-"

"Would you please explain what is going on, Ace!" Thatch called, still a little angry at being ignored earlier.

Ace's face lit up as he wrapped an arm around Sabo's shoulders and turned to face his friends. "Right! I haven't introduced him properly! This is Sabo!" He grinned brightly.

"I think we guessed that, Ace. Can you give us a straight answer? Why the hell were you trying to punch his lights out a minute ago? And why are you now acting as if nothing happened?" Vista prompted, and the rest of the crew nodded in agreement.

"Because I thought he was dead for ten years!" Ace pouted, acting as though they were the ones that were stupid for not knowing.

"THAT'S NOT A STRAIGHT ANSWER!" The crew yelled at once, making the fire-man jump.

Sabo sighed, kneading a knuckle into his companion's head. "One, he is _not_ capable of giving a straight answer, and I think you should know that by now. Two, he _has_ answered that one. I was a douche, and haven't contacted him for the past ten years and _sort-of, might-have, accidentally _ledhimtobeliveIwasdead. Third... I guess is because he finally believes it really is me and not some sort of illusion. And maybe, just maybe, he's just a little happy to-OOF!" He was caught short by a swift elbow to the ribs and a menacing glare.

Jozu massaged the bridge of his nose. "And what is your connection to each other"

They turned to face each other momentarily, before facing the curious crowd. "We're brothers!" They said in a sing-song chorus.

"BROTHERS!?" The crew cried in unison.

"Yup!"

"So Sabo, what were the first ten for? It's not like you to just_ let _me hit you." Ace leaned back and tilted his head, confusion dashed across his features.

"That's an easy one, Ace. 'twas an apology of sorts. One punch for every year." Sabo tipped his hat, shadowing his eyes. He looked up just in time to catch a bottle of sake being thrown at his head. He nodded to Koala in thanks, uncorked the bottle and took a swig. "Mmmm. Good brew." He passed the bottle over to his brother, winking at him.

"For ol' time's sake, huh?" He peered at the label before taking a swig and looking up to the cloud-less sky. "So what happened? All Dogra said was that you set out to sea flying a black flag and got shot down by some weird nobles. He, Magra and Dadan knew who they were, but never told me 'cause they knew I'd gut the bastard." Ace scowled at the bottle before passing it back.

Sabo took a long drink from the bottle before answering. He refused to look Ace in the eye, preferring to stare into the depths of the bottle. "Where do I start? Well... It was the nobles of high town that commissioned Bluejam to burn down Grey terminal."

"What's a Grey terminal?" Haruta whispered to Vista.

"It was this huuu~ge dump near where we lived" Ace explained, spreading his arms to display the scale of what he was thinking of. "We lived up in the forests on the mountains nearby... The beasts on those mountains are the sole reason why I'm not surprised by the size of any of the beasts on the grand line."

"I wouldn't be surprised if the island was originally from the grand line. Stranger things have happened." Sabo added, and Ace nodded in agreement "Anyway, they did it because this tenryubito, Saint Jalmack I think his name is, was visiting Goa. Everyone went down to the docks to try and see him. I took that opportunity to escape my parent's house and stole a fishing boat. However the tenryubito took offense and shot me out of the water." Sabo pointed to his face "That's how I got this scar. Dragon-san dragged me out of the wreck and had some of the revolutionary docs patch me up. I stayed with them to repay them for what they did for me. At seventeen they offered me a place in the army, and I gladly accepted." He spread his arms and smiled "And here I am! Not doing to badly for myself, eh?" He took a sip of the sake and passed it back to Ace. "I sent that letter before I left. But I didn't know if you guys were still alive, and I couldn't risk blowing my cover, so I didn't send another."

Ace took a swig "y'know, I'm pretty sure I'm the eldest. January first."

"Gah, no fair. Mine's March twentieth. When's Lu's?"

"May fifth... Wait... Oi! Fossa! What's the date?" Ace twisted to look over his shoulder at the man.

Fossa looked up from where he was sitting by the railing at the bow of the ship. "May fifteenth. Why?" The two brothers looked at each other, and a panicked expression fled across their features.

"OH SHIT, HE'S SET SAIL ALREADY! WE'RE ALL DOOMED!" The two brothers had a sort of mental breakdown. Ace jumped up, hands on his head, and ran around in circles screaming: "Ohmygod,ohmygod, we're doomed, he's doomed. He's probably gotten himself sucked into a whirlpool or eaten by a seaking or captured by the marines or...". Sabo, on the other hand, tucked his knees under his chin and hugged them, rocking back and forth muttering in an incoherent drawl.

After the crowd stopped guffawing at the pair, Marco and Koala stepped forward to attempt to calm them. Koala struck Sabo around the back of the head, sending him sprawling across the deck, whilst Marco calmly placed a hand on Ace's shoulder. pulling him towards the ground. Marco was the one to ask the question on everyone's minds. "What are you fussing over? This isn't like you."

Ace didn't resist, allowing Marco to pull him to the deck. He put his head in his hands, sighing exasperatedly. "Our little brother, Luffy, set sail ten days ago. He's a little trouble magnet. I just can't help but wonder at all the trouble he must have gotten into already."

"But he's _your_ brother, he must be strong, so he'll be fine, yoi!" Marco tried to console.

Sabo scoffed "Ha! Luffy? Strong? I have faith that he has gotten a little stronger, it's been ten years after all, but he has never been anywhere near our level."

Ace joined in with a chuckle "He still couldn't get that weird punch of his to go straight when I left the island"

Sabo started chuckling with his brother "That rubber-brained idiot never could aim straight. Still, I have high hopes for him. He's stubborn if nothing else"

"That stubborn streak of his is going to be the end of me, I swear."

"If yours doesn't kill you first" Sabo snickered

Ace jumped up and shouted indignantly "HEY! What's that supposed t-" The news coo took that as it's opportunity to launch a paper into Ace's face before settling on Marco's shoulder, waiting to be paid. "FUCKING BIRD! I'LL ROAST IT ALIVE!" Ace set about chasing the bird off whilst Sabo perused the paper. His face going sheet white when a leaflet fell out of the paper into his lap.

"What the? Ace...Ace! Oi! Ace! Look at this!" Sabo jumped up and chased after his still-fuming brother "ACE! 30,000,000! Luffy has a bounty of 30,000,000!

"WHAT!" Ace looked at Sabo in disbelief, before snatching the poster from him. His eyes scanned the page many times, his face stretching into a proud grin. "He looks so happy... How'd he do it!?" Ace was bouncing on the spot in giddy happiness whilst everyone was staring in shock at the fact that their second division commander could _act like that_.

Sabo opened the paper to the page the leaflet fell out from, quickly scanning the page. "Says here he beat the shit out of all of East blue's big bounties. 'Iron Mace' Alvida, Buggy 'The Clown', 'Foul Play' Don Krieg and 'Saw-Tooth' Arlong as well as the marine captain, Axe-hand Morgan." Sabo whistled "That's not a bad line up." Many of the crew gathered around to hear more about the infamous little brother. Sabo carried on extracting the important pieces of information to pass on to the crowd. "Says his first mate is a former bounty hunter... Roronoa Zoro. Trust Luffy to recruit a pirate hunter for his pirate crew. Says here he's a swordsman that fights using... three swords? How does that work?" Sabo's eyes widened in shock. "Holy cow. He... He dueled Mihawk and gained recognition from him, even though he got his ass solidly handed to him."

Vista chuckled "Guess he's going to be one to keep an eye out for in the future then."

Ace's grin consumed half his face "Only the best for our little bro! Hey! I'm gonna go show this to Oyaji!" Ace ran off, poster in hand and a happy grin slapped across his face.

"Anyone got another copy of the paper? I don't think most of us actually got to see the poster." Marco called out over the crowd

Thatch smirked "Don't worry about not seeing it, I don't think we're going to stop seeing it or hearing about this for awhile."

"I think you're onto something there, Thatch. I think Ace has fully fallen into the role of doting older brother." Sabo chuckled, folding up the paper and handing it over to Marco. "I don't think the news coo dropped any more. How's about we go find that flame-headed idiot?"

The two brothers stood on the railings of their respective ships as the revolutionary ship bustled with action, preparing to set sail. "It's been good seeing you, Ace"

"It's been nice finding out you're not dead after all, Sabo."

Sabo laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly "Sorry about that. Hey, if you see Lu before I do, don't tell him I'm alive. I want to see his reaction to the news for myself."

"He'll probably cry." Ace scoffed.

"Undoubtedly." The revolutionary ship juddered into motion as the sails were unfurled. Sabo mock saluted "See you around, brother."

Ace returned the salute. "Yeah. See you around, once-dead brother of mine."

* * *

**IT IS DONE!** **I'm sorry for any errors of any sort, let me know and I will try to sort it out. Try being the keyword. Sorry for any OOCness... Just... Sorry...** **4178 words...**

**Also, as I've been reminded in my reviews because I didn't realize, Credits to Anjelle for the nickname 'The Blue Gentleman' for Sabo. *pouts* I didn't even realize it was in there, it's become part of my head cannon 'cause it just fits so well. *continues muttering incoherently* SCREW THE RUUUUULES~**

**And I've figured out how to do the breaks! Woohoo!**


End file.
